Georgia Houston Murphy O'Hara

Georgia Houston Murphy O'Hara, passed away peacefully on October 8th, 2015 at her home in Milpitas, CA, surrounded by her family, after an extended battle with cancer. Born February 5th, 1927, to George and Angela Murphy in New York City, Georgia was pre-deceased by her husband of 31 years, Joe O’Hara. A loving and devoted mother to Kelly, Siobhan, Roisin, Kathleen, and Tim, Georgia was recently pre-deceased by her eldest daughter Siobhan (October 5th, 2015). As a grandmother, Georgia became known as “Grano” to Dylan, Shaylah, Nicolas, Joseph, Ronan, Kiera and Moira, as well as her son-in-laws Francois Larrivee and Joel Heinz. Georgia is survived by her youngest brother Desmond Murphy of Kansas, she is pre-deceased by her brothers Tim and Hugh Murphy and sister Michaela Mole.

Georgia grew up in Brooklyn Heights, New York, and graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University. Georgia was a very progressive and open-minded woman; she loved to travel and explore new cultures. Uncharacteristically for a woman of that period, she was soon traveling the world on her own, living abroad in Japan for some time, as well as studying art in San Francisco, Hawaii, and New York City. This love of art and cultures stayed with her for life.

In 1959, Georgia found herself in Sault-Saint-Marie, Ontario, Canada. There she met Joe O’Hara and a shared passion for the writing of James Joyce. Love and marriage followed quickly thereafter, and they enjoyed a shared and committed life together for thirty-one years before Joe’s untimely death in 1990. Shortly after being married, they started their family, having three children, Kelly, Siobhan, and Roisin, before moving to Oxnard, CA. There they grew the family further with daughter Kathleen and son Tim, born when Georgia was 42. Georgia embraced motherhood whole-heartedly, and spent the years of her children’s youth at home caring for the five children. At the age of 50, with the children ranging in ages from 8 to 15, Georgia moved to San Jose, CA, following Joe’s newspaper editor career. Georgia was to raise her family for the next 25 years before retiring and settling in Milpitas, CA. Georgia found her home in the Santa Clara Valley; she was particularly fond of the eastern foothills with their ever changing seasonal hues reminding her of the rolling hills above “her Joe’s” Belfast.

As the children grew older, Georgia returned to the work-force and soon found a passion for teaching. She became an inspired and devoted teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) at Morrill Middle School, and Summerdale Elementary in the Berryessa School District in San Jose, CA, helping primarily Hispanic and Vietnamese children learn and embrace the English language. She was absolutely committed to ensuring that all her students were given the best tools to be successful in their new country. Her lasting impact on the hundreds of children she helped learn English and the compassion she had for these amazing kids, was, in a word, profound.

Georgia was herself, a life-long student, taking classes of all nature, constantly pushing her appreciation for literature and knowledge, a consummate debater, always challenging ideas and biases. She was a passionate reader and books were always mandatory gifts from ‘Grano’ at birthdays and Christmas.

But the true passion of Georgia’s life was her family, her children, her grandchildren. Despite a later start to motherhood, she embraced the role whole-heartedly. She was quick to instill strong family traditions, traditions that persist today. Georgia was a woman of strong and virtuous convictions, and regardless of the challenges, never waivered from her moral compass. She was always ready to help her children and grandchildren, whatever the circumstances. And through this love, she became the true heart of the family.

Her will to live and be available for her children and grandchildren was legendary. She battled through several serious and debilitating afflictions, including heart surgeries and breast cancer. She was able to return to a healthy and active life with her children and grandchildren until she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012. She was given three months to live. She again faced this challenge with a strength and determination that characterized her life. She made the courageous decision to not accept treatment and instead opted to live out the remainder of her life with dignity and without the debilitating effects of treatment. Three years later she was still alive, alert, laughing, and participating in the family traditions she had established years ago.

Georgia’s passion and priority remained the wellbeing of her family and she was directing family matters from her hospital bed in her living room right up until the end. She resisted death for an unimaginable amount of time, but in her final days, she found peace. On the last day she waited patiently to see her children one last time, and then, with a last smile and a glance with her big blue eyes, she passed away quietly and peacefully, joining her husband Joe and daughter Siobhan forever, and where she will be waiting for the rest of her family.

A funeral service for Georgia O’Hara will be held at 9:30am on November 14th at St. Elizabeth Church in Milpitas Ca. (750 Sequoia Drive, Milpitas, CA). A reception will be held at the church following the service.

The family suggests donations in honor of Georgia and daughter Siobhan be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/goto/Siobhan_OHara_Larrivee